Doctrine is something quite different, something far loftier. Even if the folks we know use the term to name the wrong thing, something tactical, there is a doctrinal set pf principles that guide every military. The most successful ones are the ones who understand what that doctrine is.What do you mean by this? All training stems from doctrinal principles.
Doctrine is sort of like that word I hate and detest - paradigm. It is a set of beliefs, in the military case, based on axioms about what military force can achieve, how the enemy is likely to respond, and how the enemy is unlikely to respond, what sort of force is likely to achieve a certain outcome and so on...And ultimately this doctrine is also a set of conclusions or justified assumptions about the military options that stem from our nation's economic and social circumstances. Doctrine can also lie at the level of the corps or division either related to the terrain it is deployed in or its role.
For instance the respective doctrines of air warfare of the Soviet/Russian and US air forces differ in terms of their objectives. The USAF plans always to achieve air superiority within the first 24 hours of battle; the Russian AF believes that there is no such thing as air superiority; the battle and the war is always fluid and at no time should resources be tied down in defending way points - air superiority is temporary. This is an offensive military talking, always advancing the front, reasoning that captured or redeemed territory is the most sensible type of base to maintain. It also makes a difference that the US military is not planning to protect its homelands or fight a land battle on its plains. Russians are very different and believe that war can anytime cme home.
